A Change of Plans
by neverforgetlove
Summary: What if Rose knew Cal was lying to Jack about the "arrangements" but stayed on the lifeboat because she believed he would have a better chance without her there?  Will he survive and will she escape Cal and her mother's clutches? I own nothing, R&R please
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One:

Realization (Rose)

A FATHER STANDS with his little daughter in his arms; she can't be any older than six or seven. "Give her to me." An officer rips her from his arms, and she cries out, "Daddy?" She can't understand what's going on; her mother and her little sister are already in the boat, so why isn't her father getting on with them?

"Daddy, get in the boat," she whimpers, her voice starting to crack. Though she's so young, she realizes that something's not right.

"It'll be fine, darling; don't you worry. It's goodbye for a little while, only for a little while," says her father reassuringly, but she hears the false note in his voice. "There'll be another boat for the daddies, this one's for the mummies and the children! " He's trying so hard not to break down, but he knows this is probably the last time he'll ever see his wife or his beautiful daughters. "You hold Mummy's hand and be a good little girl."

Suddenly it dawns on me: if this officer won't let fathers on, there's no way Jack's going to be let on. I whirl and face him. "I'm not going without you." My voice is firm, steely; I can't show any fear, any doubt, because then there is no way that he'll let me stay with him. But I _can't_ leave him…not without losing myself in the process.

"You have to go. Now," he tells me, his eyes conveying panic and disbelief. How can he believe that I would so willingly leave him behind, after all we've been through together? What happened to, "you jump, I jump?"

"No, Jack, no," I murmur.

"Get in the boat, Rose." His voice is slightly louder now; I raise mine to match it.

"No, Jack."

"Yes, get on the boat!" He's almost yelling now, and I jump a bit when an all-too-familiar voice cuts in.

"Yes, get on the boat, Rose." It's Cal; I'm surprised to see him. Surely money could have bought him a seat, after all? Why chance it that you might not make it, when you could just buy your way to safety? Jack looks torn between anger that he's there, and hope that he might be able to persuade me to get to safety.

"My God, look at you, you look a fright," Cal continues. What does he even care? "Here…come." He whips the blanket off from around my shoulders. Jack grunts as Cal shoves it into his stomach without so much as a "please." Meanwhile Cal has taken off his jacket and drapes it loosely over my shoulders. His hands stroke my hair; disgusted, I back away from him, and Jack takes his place.

His beautiful eyes full of urgency, he says, "Go on; I'll get the next one." Just like the father with his daughter; well, I'm not six. I can speak for myself and make my own decisions.

"No, not without you!" I know I sound like a pestilent child, but I can't help it. I'm not losing Jack…where he goes, I go.

"I'll be all right! Listen, I'll be fine. I'm a survivor, all right? Don't worry about me! Go on, get on," he begs. There's fear in his eyes now, which he does his best to hide. Is it fear of losing me in the icy waters, or fear of losing me when I live and he dies? I'd rather die with him than live without him, especially if I never learn what happens because I got on this stupid lifeboat.

"I have an arrangement with an officer on the other side of the ship," Cal interrupts again; I'd quite forgotten he was there. "Jack and I can get off safely-both of us." He exchanges a glance with Jack, and I don't miss the apprehension in Jack's eyes before he turns back to me. Cal's lying to get what he wants-me on the lifeboat. Jack could die for all he cares.

"See?" Jack asks. "Got my own boat to catch."

"Hurry," Cal says, with an attempt at a smile. I want to punch him in that arrogant, lying face. "They're almost full."

I turn back to Jack, whispering urgently in his ear, too quietly for Cal to hear. "Look, I know Cal's lying-I could see it in his eyes. But I want you to know that I'm only getting on this boat because of you, because you asked me to. You're gonna make it, you _are _a survivor, and I'll meet up with you. I'm not going to stay with him. Promise me you'll find me!"

"I promise," he whispers, holding me tight, brushing his lips against my hair. Suddenly…

"Step aboard, Miss," says the officer, and I'm yanked away from Jack. We hold hands for as long as we can, but are eventually ripped apart. "Lower away!" cries the officer, and there's a gasp from the lifeboat as we all jerk downward. I keep my eyes on Jack's face, not willing to miss a second of it, in case…no, there's no "in case." He's going to make it…he promised.

He's talking with Cal, and I know that he's confirming what I already knew in my heart to be true-that Cal is an evil, conniving, arrogant, pathetic excuse for a man, who will do whatever he needs to in order to win. Well, he's not going to win this time…

I look up at the ropes, creaking under the weight of the boat, and back to Jack, who looks back stoically. Cal's to his right, and he's wearing his customary smug expression, though he tries his best to hide it. The girls are waving up at their father, tears streaming down their faces…the officer is screaming, waving his arms to lower the boats, but I can't hear any of it over the pounding of my heart.

I look back to Jack…are those tears in his eyes? Suddenly, a flare bursts to life behind him, and his face is illuminated perfectly. His hands shake, a tear trickles down his face, but somehow I've never seen him so strong, so perfect, so beautiful. I want to be with him, to be right at his side through this sinking, but this way he doesn't have to worry about me. This way, he can focus on getting himself out of the water, or swim to a boat, or whatever he needs to do to survive…

I try and smile up at him; I'm not going to let him know how much leaving him is hurting me. He already knows it, I'm sure, but crying while he watches will only make it worse. "I love you," I tell him. It's the first time either of us said the words; it was almost unnecessary before, and though he can't hear me, I hope he understands the message.

A true smile lights up his face, though the tears still threaten to spill over, and his lips part. "I love you, too." I spare a quick second to watch the anger flit over Cal's face as he realizes our message…and then our boat's in the water, and Jack's out of sight, and I finally can let the tears flow.

Sobbing relentlessly, I begin to pray, _Let him make him, please help him to survive, I don't know what I would do without him…_


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two:

Tommy

AS ROSE'S HAND slips from mine, I feel my heart sink into my stomach. I told her I'm a survivor; I've had to be, to have made it this far in life, without my parents or a regular job or anything. But what if I can't figure a way out of this one? What if this is really and truly goodbye? I take a deep breath as the officer gives the order to lower the boat. If I fall apart now, there's no way Rose will stay on. And that's all that matters-her safety.

I stand back and watch the boat take the woman I love lower and lower, further away from me. If this is the last time I'll see her, I'm not going to miss a second of it. She's stronger, now-I've helped her with that, at least. She knows that she won't make it if she stays trapped in their rules and regulations, and she'll make it without me, if that's what she needs to do.

"You're a good liar." I'd forgotten Cal was there, but the snide comment jolts me back to reality. Rose knew that Cal was lying, too, though, and he doesn't know that. Still…I have to ask.

"Almost as good as you," I tell him. "There's no…there's no arrangement, is there?"

"No, there is." My heart leaps into my throat, though I keep my face expressionless. Perhaps Cal has a heart after all? "Not that you'll benefit much from it."

Of course.

"I always win, Jack. One way or another." Is he going to cry? His voice got kind of weird at the end there. So this is his plan…I'll die, and he'll marry Rose? Too bad she figured it out beforehand, and too bad I don't plan on dying.

We turn back to watch the boat continue to lower. _Stay strong, Jack. For her, _I tell myself, but tears still well up in my eyes. I hope that she can't make it out from where she sits. And then, a flare bursts behind me, and from the widening of her eyes, I know that she can tell that I'm trying to be strong.

She smiles up at me, but it's all wrong; it doesn't reach her eyes. So she's trying just as hard to be strong for me as I am for her. If the situation weren't so heart-wrenching, it would almost be comical. "I love you." I can't make out her voice, but I can read her lips, and the message she has chosen to give me means the world to me. It'll get me through whatever comes tonight. I can survive, because she loves me.

"I love you, too," I say to her. Cal can hear me, and out of the corner of my eye I watch his eyes flash in anger. But the genuine smile flitting across my Rose's face is all I need to see to know that everything's going to be okay.

Her boat's in the water, now, and there's no reason for me to stay here. I have to survive, for her. Swiping angrily at the few stupid tears trickling down my face, I start for higher ground. Water that cold can kill in fifteen minutes; I need to stay out of it for as long as possible.

A hand clamps down on my shoulder, whirls me around. "What the _devil_ do you think you're doing?" It's Cal, of course, rage distorting his face into an uglier-than-usual mask. _Uglier-than-usual_…for some reason, this strikes me as absolutely hilarious, and I can't stop the smile from flitting across my face.

"What could possibly be funny?" he fumed. "_I'm_ going to get on a lifeboat, _you're _going to die here tonight, and she'll be with me!"

I could tell him about our whispered conversation right before she boarded the lifeboat, about how I promised that I'd find her and that we'd live together…but I figure that won't help the situation at all. "You'd better get to the other side of the boat, then. Looks like they're almost finished over here," I say, and then melt into the crowd.

People are starting to realize that the ship really is going down, and there's more urgency in their movements, in their voices. Where are Tommy and Fabrizio? I haven't seen them since I sent them to look for boats on the other side of the ship. And though I know that's where Cal's going, and I'd rather face a shark than see him again, I have to see if my friends are okay. Fabrizio and I have been together for years; he's like a brother to me.

When I get there, the first thing I notice is the large crowd, mostly consisting of men, jostling each other to get to the lifeboats. None of them has the experience with large crowds that I do, however; I begin weaving my way through the crowd.

"STAY BACK!" screams the officer, and he's holding a gun. I can't believe that these first-class "gentlemen" would warrant the use of a gun, but then I hear a familiar voice.

"Will ya give us a chance to live, you limey bastard?" Tommy, of course, and Fabrizio is at his side.

"I'LL SHOOT ANY MAN WHO TRIES TO GET PAST ME, NOW, _STAY BACK!"_ the officer retorts. Tommy repeats his insult.

Cal addresses the officer then, his hair disheveled from his struggle through the crowd. "We had a deal, damn you!" he blurts out. The officer shakes his head in disgust, and throws a wad of cash at the steel tycoon.

"Your money can't save you any more than it can save me," he says, revulsion etched into his face. I can't repress a smirk as Cal is shoved back into the crowd, utter confusion written all over his face. I bet that's the first time that money didn't get him what he wanted.

A man tries to leap over a barrier, and the officer shoots him down. Finally, I'm right behind Tommy. "Tommy!" I call, and he twists his head around to see me, a half-smile on his-

BAM! The jostling in the crowd somehow caused Tommy to be pushed forward. The officer, seeing the man who had moments before been screaming at him moving forward, had shot my friend. Fabrizio catches him, screaming out his name and Italian curses.

I drop down beside them, unable to believe that my friend is gone, just like that. If he hadn't been turning around to face me, might he have made it? I can't second-guess God, but I know that if I make it tonight, I'll have to face the guilt for the rest of my life.

BAM! Again, the gun goes off, and there's a splash. The officer is gone; apparently, he shot himself because he couldn't deal with it all. I can't bring myself to feel all that sorry for him, though; he killed an innocent man, and a loyal friend.

"Jack!" Fabrizio swipes at the tears on his face and finally realizes that I'm there. "Why aren't you with Rose?"

"I got her on a boat," I tell him simply. Cal's still lurking around here somewhere, and there's no time to talk about our promise anyway. "Tommy's gone, Fabri. But we gotta make it…c'mon, let's get to the stern. We've got to stay out of the water as long as possible." My voice is gentle; it's taking everything I have in me not to wail like a child at the loss of Tommy. But there will be a time for mourning; if Tommy were here, he would want us to keep going, to survive this sinking.

Fabrizio must realize this too, he nods and stands up. We look at our fallen friend for a few more seconds, before racing toward the back of the ship.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: This chapter is a bit shorter than the other two, but I'll try to write Chapter Four sometime today and upload it tonight. Thank you so much, Frieda van den Huetten and FallingStar95 for the reviews! They really mean a lot to me…if you enjoy this story at all, or have any suggestions, please review! I see lots of hits but very few reviews, and I want to know what you like or didn't like so I can improve the story…well, here is Chapter Three!**

Chapter Three:

An Unexpected Friend (Rose)

"WHY ARE YOU crying?" a little voice pipes up. I don't look up, just keep trying to focus on the lurching of the lifeboat as it is rowed through the water. There are lots of women crying over husbands, fathers, brothers, lovers still on the ship. What are the odds that the voice is addressing me?

"Miss?" a little hand rests on my knee. I flinch slightly from the unexpected contact, and look up to see that it's the little girl I'd watched earlier. "Why are you crying?" she repeats, her eyes shining in the glow from the doomed ship, sinking lower and lower into the water.

How can I word this so that I don't upset her again? If I say I think my "friend" is going to die, she may realize her father probably won't make it, either. Her mother watches me with anxious eyes, rocking her smaller daughter, who is apparently sleeping.

"I made a friend on the ship," I say carefully, "and I just miss him."

"Is that all?" she says, much to my surprise. "My daddy told me that there'll be lots of boats coming to help, and then we'll find him again. You don't need to be sad. Isn't that right, Mummy?" She's still at that age where adults always tell the truth and know everything, and I pity her innocent optimism.

"That's right, darling," her mother manages, turning her face away from us; I imagine she doesn't want her daughter to see her cry.

"My name's Grace and I'm seven years old," she tells me, "and this is my mummy, and this is my little sister Margaret. She's almost four. What's your name?" I can't help but to smile at her bubbly personality; she's not one to dwell on the negative, and I hope that gets her through if her father doesn't make it tonight.

"I'm Rose. Rose Dawson." The last part just slips out naturally, and I know that whatever happens to Jack, I'm taking his name.

"That's a pretty name," she decides, "and it matches your hair." She reaches out a hand to touch my curls, iced over from when I rescued Jack.

"Grace, that isn't polite," her mother admonishes her, eyes apologizing for her daughter's behavior. But I rather like this spunky young girl; she reminds me of myself, before I let the rules and regulations of first class society weigh me down.

"It's fine," I say, and Grace's face lights up in a shy smile. She crawls across the bench and sits next to me; the lifeboat is crowded, but there is enough room for this small girl to change seats.

"What about your friend?" she asks.

"My friend?" I can't quite tell what she means by this sudden change of topics.

"Yes, what's his name?" Again with the names…do I give her just a first name, or do I give a last name, too?

"His name is Jack Dawson." I relish the sound of his name on my lips, trying to forget that he'll soon be plunged into freezing waters. _He'll make it_, I tell myself.

"Ooh, so are you married?" Her face lights up again in excitement, and I can't help but to smile in return. She's old enough to understand the basic mechanics of things, and young enough to believe in fairy-tale stories of princes, true love, and happily-ever-afters.

"Yes," I say, figuring that we're close enough to marriage anyway.

"My daddy's name is Jack, too," she tells me. "And Mummy's name is Anna."

"That's…interesting," I say, not wanting to dwell on the topic of her father in case it draws more tears. She nods, and opens her mouth, when all of a sudden her attention is drawn back to the ship.

"Mummy, what's happening?" I look back at the _Titanic_, and am surprised to see that the stern is sticking up at a massive angle to the ocean below. People, looking as tiny and as insignificant as ants, are tumbling into the freezing water below, where hundreds of people have already fallen. _Please, Jack…_I can't bear to think of him falling off the ship, so I remind myself that he knows what he's doing. He isn't dumb enough to get into that water until he absolutely has to.

"Don't watch," the mother says, and tears fill Grace's eyes. She's realizing, again, that her father probably won't make it.

"Come here," I say, opening my arms to her, and she snuggles into my chest, sobbing. Her mother shoots me a grateful glance, not realizing that she's comforting me as much as I am her. I rock back and forth, hypnotized by the sight of the foundering ship, wondering where my love is right now.

"Is my daddy gonna be okay?" she asks, her voice muffled by the coat Cal slipped on me before I boarded the boat. How do I answer this?

"You know something that I learned from my friend?"

"What?" Her voice is so tiny, so pathetic, so _lost_,that I find myself desperately hoping that this helps her to feel better.

"That everything happens for a reason. People come into our lives to help us, to change us into who we need to be. Your daddy is so proud of you for being so brave and obeying him when he told you to get on this boat, because now he doesn't have to worry about you. He knows you're safe." The first part of this probably will go way over her head, but I hope that the second part will be enough to help her feel better.

"Do you really think so?"

"Yes," I tell her, holding her more tightly as the lights on the ship finally go out. There's an awful groaning sound emitted from the ship, magnified a hundred times from what I'd heard while searching for Jack, and the lights on the ship flicker out. A cracking sound, like a gunshot, no, like a _cannon,_ emits from the ship, and it splits in two. The bow sinks rapidly, but the stern bobs up vertically, like a cork.

I feel hope well up within me. Jack has to be on the stern; maybe it will stay like that long enough for the other ships to come? Maybe he'll never have to brave the freezing waters? Maybe it was partially true that this ship is "unsinkable"?

People are still tumbling into the water, unable to hold on for that much longer. It's impossible to make out individuals in the light of the stars, but I try to anyway, desperate to ensure that Jack isn't one of those taking the plunge.

Horrible screams are coming from the water; people begging for the lifeboats to come back, for help, for mercy. I look to the crewman in charge of our boat; he shakes his head no, regret in his eyes. "We can't go back. They'd swamp us."

"Please, can't we try?" I ask, trying not to picture Jack's frozen body in the water, ice in his hair, eyes closed forever. "We can't just leave them…"

"I said no." His voice is firmer now, but I see him turn away and wipe a tear away.

Suddenly, the stern starts sinking rapidly. The water churns and bubbles at the point where the ship enters the water for the last time, and my heart wrenches to know that Jack _will_ enter the icy waters. He'll have to get out of the water soon, find a piece of wreckage, swim to the lifeboats, or he'll…he'll…

Grace's sobs have quieted now. She's not asleep, but almost catatonic. Shock. I hold her tight and try not to cry.

_Jack…remember your promise…_


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: My longest chapter yet. Hope you guys all like it! Thanks, merderfan93 and AddyD90, for your reviews! It's because I got two more reviews in just a couple hours for Chapter Three that I sat down and typed this all out…you guys inspire me to keep writing! Please review and let me know what you think, if there's anything you love, anything you think I should change.**

Chapter Four:

The Sinking (Jack)

"JACK, HAVE YOU seen Helga?" Fabrizio shouts to me as we make our way through the throngs of passengers and crew still hoping to find a lifeboat. Little do they know that the boats are all gone, rowing away to escape the suction. I know they'll come back, but will it be in time for those of us who are dumped into the icy water?

"No," I tell him, "not since we left her below decks." I see my friend's face fall, and know that he thinks that she's trapped down there forever. "There are a lot of third class passengers up here, Fabri. They probably unlocked that main gate, and she's up here somewhere, probably looking for you. Heck, maybe she even made it onto a lifeboat!" My voice gets a bit softer at the end, and I think about Rose, probably watching the ship and trying not to believe that every person slipping into the icy water is me. _I promised you I'd make it, Rose, and I don't go back on my word. Just hang in there, love._

As if he knows the direction my thoughts have taken, Fabrizio asks, "Where is Rose?" His eyes say what he can't; he's wondering if she ended up with Hockley after all. I jump down to a lower deck, and wait for him to follow before answering. People are clamoring about the decks, screaming, shouting, shoving. Trying to keep track of Fabrizio is nearly impossible, but after so many years of traveling together, it's almost as natural as breathing.

"I got her into a boat," I tell him, "and we're going to meet up afterward. She doesn't want to go back to being trapped."

Fabrizio nods, and again I can read the question in his eyes; he wants to know how we knew I will make it. Well, there's no answer for this one, except that I am a survivor and that I promised her I would. I'm not gonna go back on that promise…

We're finally at the stern of the ship, holding on to the railing, and I feel a pang as I realize that the last time I was here, I was convincing Rose not to jump off the back of the ship. I remember how nervous I felt, unsure if she would listen to me, and the sadness I felt that such a beautiful girl would feel that there was no other way out for her. It's ridiculous, crazy, even, but she's all I can think about, all I can see. I can only feel her lips against mine, her body under me…

"Helga!" Fabrizio cries, and she's there, crushing her body against his. I smile for my friend, knowing that he's going to do whatever it takes to ensure she survives. I know this because it's exactly what I would have done, if Rose were here, shaking in my arms the way Helga is in Fabrizio's.

The ship is raising higher and higher, the angle growing steeper and steeper. "Fabri, we've got to get on the other side of the railing!" It's getting harder and harder to hold on, and this way we won't be fighting gravity. I slip over easily, and see the hesitation in his eyes: he doesn't want to let go of Helga.

"Give me her hand, I'll hold onto her while you get over here." He nods, trusting me, and motions for her to take my hand. While Fabrizio untangles his limbs from her and crosses the railing, Helga looks up into my eyes, fear in them. I realize that I'm the only thing between her and the icy water.

"I won't let go," I tell her, even though she probably can't really understand me. It's an echo of what I was telling Rose…could it only have been two days? It feels like two lifetimes…Helga smiles up at me, somehow getting the gist of my words, and then Fabrizio's over, taking her other hand. Together, we pull her over the rail, and Fabrizio tucks her under his upper body, doing his best to warm her.

"Thank you," Helga says slowly, looking at Fabrizio with love in her eyes. Suddenly, she's closing her eyes, and leaning toward him…I can't watch them kiss, because it makes me think of Rose, how I wish I could be with her, holding her in my arms, telling her it would be all right.

The lights flicker out, plunging us into darkness barely penetrated by the dim light of the stars, and the ship groans. She's dying, and she's letting all of us know.

CRACK! I don't know what's happening, but that was the loudest sound I've ever heard in my entire life. The ship…it's splitting in two! Right down the middle...we're dropped back down level with the ocean, and all I can hear is the terrified screams of a thousand people, unsure of what's happening to them.

The stern hits the water with an indescribable sound, and we're level once more. "We okay now, yes?" asks Helga, looking at Fabrizio with complete trust in her eyes.

Fabrizio catches my eye, and I know he feels like I do: we're not out of the woods yet. This ship is going to sink, and it's only a matter of time.

The stern rises back out of the water, being pulled up vertically, so that Fabrizio, Helga, and I are looking straight down at the ocean. People tumble head over heels, smacking into the ship, into other people…it's a massive domino effect, and it's absolutely sickening. Can a person survive a fall hundreds of feet into the ocean? I don't know, and I don't plan on finding out, either.

We bob here like a cork for a few minutes. Some people seem to believe that it's all going to be okay, that the boat will stay like this until the other ships come to rescue us. I know better. This ship is iron, and all the air that is buoying her up is slowly being replaced by water. It's only a matter of time before we're plunged into the frigid waters.

Sure enough, we start sinking, the water churning below us. "Fabri, fight the suction! Hold your breath at the last second, and we'll find each other in a few minutes!" I yell to him, and he nods.

"Godspeed, Jack!" he yells, grasping Helga's hand tightly in his own, pantomiming holding her breath so she won't drown when we go under.

"Same to you, _amico_!" The ship goes under then, and I find myself submerged in the waters. I go under for a few seconds, and then make it to the surface, gasping for air with lungs that don't seem to be functioning very well anymore.

It hurts even worse then I'd remembered. I'm being stabbed all over my body, a thousand, a million times. It almost feels like I'm burning…_is this what hell feels like?_ I find myself wondering idly. I've never been really religious, but I find myself praying. _God, please forgive me for all the wrong I've done…please help me to make it, for Rose's sake._ I look around, trying to see Fabrizio's dark hair. I try to call for him, but my voice doesn't seem to want to work that well, just like my lungs. I can't help but expect my father to pull me out, like he had back in Wisconsin so many years ago. But Pop's dead, and I will be soon, if I don't get out of this water.

"Fabri!" I call one last time. "Helga!" It hurts, but I can't keep looking for them now. They're on their own…I can't believe I'm giving up looking for my best friend, but I made Rose that promise, and I have to get out of this water to make it.

_There!_ I paddle toward a piece of wreckage…an ornate door. Probably from first class, I note wryly, sliding on. I'm glad that Rose is in a lifeboat now, safe and dry…besides, I doubt that this door would support the two of us. It wouldn't be a question who would get on it, though.

I'm a little bit warmer now, but still freezing. I can see my breath coming in icy clouds illuminated by the stars. Everyone's shouting, crying, screaming, begging…there are so many of us out here. How can they not come back for us? How can they leave their fellow man out here to die? _They'll come back, they have to…it was just the suction, is all..._

I'm shivering, now, trying to block it all out. I can't hear the women screaming, then men calling, without hearing Fabrizio and Helga. I hope that they managed to find some wreckage to lie on.

A sharp whistle penetrates the night. It's an officer, not too far from me, clinging to some piece of wreckage. "RETURN…THE BOATS!" he calls out.

I roll over onto my back, facing the stars. I lose track of time, barely noticing when it starts to get quiet. _I'm in shock…I can't deal with it all now, is all._ A small clinical part of my brain notes this, but the rest of me is too numb, too cold, to care.

Suddenly, all I see is blinding whiteness. I'm not cold anymore, either…


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Sorry for the long wait! The past couple days have been really busy for me. I'll try to update regularly from now on. First, thanks to AddyD90, merderfan93, and DawsonGurl for reviewing! Hopefully, after this chapter, the chapters will be longer. This isn't my favorite chapter by any means…trying to convey the shock and loss, combined with Rose's hope that Jack is alive, was challenging, but I hope I did all right. Let me know what you think!**

Chapter Five:

The Longest Night (Rose)

THE SCREAMS OF those in the water are unbearable. I'm thankful that Grace seems to have fallen into an uneasy sleep, because she is far too young to deal with these kinds of noises.

"Please! Help us! Come back!" A thousand voices mingle together, begging, pleading for help that we can't offer. I strain my ears, but I can't pick Jack out of the noise. _Of course not,_ I figure, _he knows better than to waste time and energy yelling for the boats. Even if they decided to come back, it would take a while, and he knows that he has to get out of the water._

Those in our boat are silent, though Grace's mother Anna rocks back and forth silently, tears streaming down her face. I know that not knowing if her husband will be okay must be even worse than worrying about Jack is for me. He is a father, the bread-winner of their small family. Jack and I are on our own now; we don't have two small girls to worry about.

I want to say something to help her feel better, but I don't know what to say. "It'll all be okay" when obviously it won't? Everything seems too trivial or too heart-wrenching to say in this kind of a situation. For all of the manners classes I've taken over my years as a first-class woman, I can't recall any lesson on what to say in a tragedy of this magnitude.

Then again, that would be _useful_, and goodness knows that I didn't learn anything that might possibly be of use there!

It's gradually getting quieter, and I know that this means trouble for those in the water. It won't take long for them to freeze to death in the water…by the sounds of it, many of them already have. "Jack," I whisper, my breath making a cloud discernable by the light of the stars.

I barely even notice when our boat is gathered up along with some others. I just figure that they all want to stay together, so it's easier when a ship comes to pick us up again.

"Right, men, listen to me!" a male voice calls out, with an accent I can't quite place at first, but I finally realize is Welsh. I look up blearily, just thinking that Jack is out there, Jack needs me, Jack is freezing to death... "We have to go back!"

My heart leaps inside my chest. They're going back for survivors! They'll pick up Jack! I know they will, because he is a survivor and he promised me that he would make it. I realize how childish my thoughts seem, but it's really early in the morning, and I'm drained physically, mentally, and emotionally. Thinking about Jack is all I am capable of right about now.

Some women and children leave the officer's boat and climb into the others, including ours. They're making room for those that they'll pick out from the wreckage. I wish I could be there with them, to hold Jack when he gets out of the water, to let him know that it all will be okay, but I'm just a woman. The officer is taking with him three men and some blankets; there's no room for me. Besides, I have Grace in my arms, and she needs me now, too. I can do more help back here with her than I could by going back with those men…among all those bodies, frozen, never to move, to breathe, to smile again. Yes, perhaps it is best if I stay back…

The boat pulls away, leaving our boat and the other two bobbing in the water. There's a kind of tense excitement, almost tangible, in the air…we're all hoping against hope that a son, a brother, a husband, might be pulled from the water alive.

"Is there anyone alive out there? Can anyone hear me?" The officer's voice echoes across the water. We all tense, listening for an answering cry. There is none.

"Perhaps they're too cold to speak, but they will move to get their attention. That's why they brought flashlights," suggests a woman, maybe a little younger than my mother.

Mother…how am I going to escape from her and Cal? He saw me on the lifeboat, he saw me enter the water in it, and he knows I'm safe. I also know that he's floating, safe and dry, in a boat not too far away. Unlike Jack, Cal will do whatever it takes to save his own skin.

We strain our ears and listen, but eventually, even the officer's cries fade into the distance, and we are left alone. This waiting is unbearable. We don't know who is being pulled from the water, if anyone. We don't know when we're going to be rescued by another ship, if at all. And I don't know if the love of my life is even breathing right now!

"What's that?" It's the first sentence that has been spoken in what feels like several years, but it may have only been a few minutes. It is almost impossible to keep track of time out here. The stars move by-I can tell that much, at least, though I don't know any of the constellations. I'm sure Jack does, though-I'll have to have him teach me when we get to New York.

"What's what?" another woman asks. We leave our self-pitying thoughts and strain our ears once more.

"A whistle?" the first lady guesses.

"Sounds like it," confirms her companion.

"So someone has been saved from the water, then."

We all want to say it was one of our loved ones, but there is no way of knowing for sure. If there are eleven hundred people out there, and I am guessing there are more, that was only half of the number of people that were on the _Titanic,_ the odds of it being Jack, if that was the only person who has been saved so far, are…I try and figure the math, to keep from thinking about something more serious…extremely small, I determine, unable to divide the figures.

We sit in silence for another few hours. We wait. We wait to die, or to live. We wait for a release from this waiting, this nervous tension, of not knowing what has happened to those we care about, or even what will happen to us. Will another ship find us in time?

The dawn approaches, a lighter tinge to the blackness of the night. And we can see a ship approaching. I expect someone to cheer, to say, "We're saved!" Instead, those who were assigned to row just row toward the ship. We can't rejoice in our salvation with so many others dead just a few miles away.

There is a bit of wave to the water now…wave which, from what I've gathered about the sinking, would have helped them to spot the iceberg sooner. The sky is the brilliant pink of a summer rose, but I can't rejoice in the beautiful morning. Not without knowing Jack is okay.

Our boat isn't the first pulled from the ocean, but it's not the last either. I can't see Mother or Cal anywhere, and that's just fine with me. I accept a blanket and a cup of tea from a helpful crew member and then make my way down to where the third class survivors are located.

There are far fewer people here than in the first class section of the ship. It gives me a pang to notice that little Cora and her family are nowhere to be found. Neither is Tommy, or Fabrizio, or Helga…any of the friends that Jack made along his journeys. Jack isn't here either, but that's okay for now. I haven't seen that officer anywhere, so the boat Jack is on hasn't been picked up yet. And I know that he's on it, too; I would feel it in my heart, in my soul, if he were truly gone.

I sit with the blanket wrapped around my head, hiding my flaming hair from anyone who may come looking for me. If I want to be found by someone, I will approach him.

Crew members are walking around, taking the names of the survivors. Some of the survivors are sobbing hysterically upon finding that their loved one's name is not on the list. "There's got to be another list!" they scream, or question, "Is there another ship?"

"All the boats have been accounted for, ma'am," I hear a crew member assure a woman, who collapses on the deck in tears. I feel sorry for her, but I know that if I allow myself to really feel compassion, I will be right on the deck beside her. It's difficult, but I make my way around her, to the man with the list.

"Excuse me, is there a Jack Dawson on that list?" I ask. While he scans the list, I look around, taking in the haunted eyes, the somber expressions. The White Star line really has a lot to answer for. Suddenly, a hand clamps on my shoulder. "Rose?" a familiar voice cries.


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: I know, a bit of a wait again, sorry! Hope it's worth it…thanks again to my reviewers: WickedForGood13, Frieda van den Huetten, and DawsonGurl. Reviews really do help me to find the motivation to write, so if you want to see more, please take a minute to leave a review! I have something I'd like to address really quick here…**

**Frieda van den Huetten, you said that you thought that the part where Rose thinks that she's just a woman seems a bit out of character to you. I agree that Rose always believes she can do anything she wants; I was just trying to show how the times oppressed her, made her feel like men are better, more capable. Something Jack will work on changing, perhaps…? Well, enjoy!**

Chapter Six:

Rescue (Jack)

THE BLINDING WHITE fades away, and then comes back. My brain is working so slowly, every thought coming up like an air bubble through quicksand…_light._ Light…light must mean people. But why would there be people here? They must be looking for…survivors. _That's me!_ I lift my head up from the board, ice crackling as it breaks away. I open my mouth, try to call out, but my voice won't function properly. All that comes out is a strange croaking.

Now that I'm a bit more awake, I can hear them calling. "Is there anyone alive out there? Can anyone hear me?" _Yes!_ I want to scream, louder than I've ever screamed before. But my voice won't work, and they apparently didn't notice me moving. They're pulling away…they can't leave! They can't leave me here! I'm alive!

I pull myself off of the board…my body is so slow, so sluggish. The water stabs like a thousand knives anew…if I thought I was in pain on the board, that was nothing. That was a walk in the park, the gentle kiss of a breeze, the sweet sensation of Rose's lips pressed against my own…

_Rose._ I'm shivering in the water, letting them row further and further away from me, when I promised her I would make it. I could start out after them…but they're so far ahead, and I'm so cold, that I'll never make it to them. I look around wildly, trying not to panic…there must be some way out of this.

That guy with the whistle! I paddle over to him, shocked at how stiltedly my body is moving. I need to get out of this water, and soon. I yank the whistle from his frozen lips, not allowing myself to feel any pity for the man. There will be time for that later.

I blow the whistle, faint at first, then stronger and stronger. "Come about!" one of the men on the boat yells.

The flashlight searches again, finds my face as I continue to tweet that whistle as if my life depended on it. Because it does.

They pull me out of the water, dripping and shuddering. "You're okay, chap, it's all going to be okay," the officer in charge of the boat says, draping me in a warm woolen blanket. "You just focus on staying warm now, all right?"

I nod, unable to form words. I'm so tired, but I know I can't sleep now. If you go into hypothermia and you fall asleep, you'll never wake up. I have to focus on something, anything, to stay awake, at least until the shaking slows a bit and I'm out of the danger zone.

There's no contest as to what I'll think about. Rose…my beautiful, strong little Rose. I've kept my promise to her. I got myself rescued, I made it. But what's going to happen to us now? Cal saw her get off on that lifeboat. He has to suspect that Rose isn't planning on living with him after what he tried to do to me, after she realized what he is like. What is he willing to do in order to ensure that she stays with him?

Rose is smart. She'll know enough to avoid him, at least until she finds me. I bet we'll figure out something together. Perhaps she has something she can use to bargain with him…? But he has tons of money; what more could he want than a beautiful wife? Rose hates him, though. Couldn't he find someone else, someone just as rich, though not as beautiful (because no one could be as beautiful as Rose is), who would be willing to marry him?

My thoughts continue to chase around each other in circles, until eventually the shuddering slows, and my eyelids grow heavy. They've managed to pull a few others from the icy water, and now they're just waiting to be picked up by some boat. I close my eyes, and drift off, dreaming of Rose's smile.

A FEW HOURS LATER, I'm standing on the deck of the _Carpathia_ among hundreds of survivors, wondering how to find the one I'm looking for while avoiding the three or so that I need to steer clear of at all costs.

They're compiling lists of the survivors. I see them walking around with their black notebooks, asking for names. Some of the women have become hysterical upon discovering that their loved ones are not on the list. I hate to think of Rose finding out that I'm not on there yet, so I walk over to one of the men.

"Can I take your name, please, sir?"

"Dawson, Jack Dawson." A hot cup of tea is shoved into my hands by another crew member, and then the man taking names walks away with a "thank you."

Now, where to find Rose? If I were Rose, where would I go? I'd want to avoid Cal and her mother at any cost, so where would they be least likely to go? I smile; I know where I'll find my love.

I make my way to the third class area, where there are far less people than in the first class section of the ship. It makes me angry, thinking about how the crew kept those innocent women and children below deck until the boats were too gone, until they didn't stand a chance. Is a first class life really worth that much more than a third class one, or are we all the same in the sight of God? I haven't been to church since my folks died, but I seem to remember a lesson about not storing up your treasures on Earth so that you might have a heavenly treasure. I'm guessing that, to God, a life is a life, and money is nothing. Just like that officer last night, the one who through Cal's money back at him. I don't know his name, and I'm guessing he didn't make it, but in my mind, he is one of the heroes of the night. Not only did he refuse to value a first class life over any other, but he also spited Caledon Hockley, and for that, I will be eternally grateful.

I scan the crowd for the familiar crimson curls that I've grown to love in just a few days. My heart drops a bit when I can't spot them anywhere. But then I think about it-if I can look for Rose's hair, so can her mother and Cal. She'd know that. Perhaps she's trying to hide?

What else would Rose be doing? She'd want to know if I was okay. She'd probably be one of the women asking after her loved one…there, in the green blanket? I strode over, and hear a voice ask, "Excuse me, but is there a Jack Dawson on that list?"

It's her! I close the distance between us, grab her shoulder, and whirl her around to face me. "Rose?" My voice is soft, tentative; I don't want to scare her.

"Jack?" Equal parts disbelief and hope mix in her eyes. "Oh, Jack! You're all right!" She melts into my arms, crying. I press my lips to the top of her head, meeting the eyes of the crew member, who smiles, apparently glad to see one happy ending, and walks off. "I was so scared!" Rose cries. "I mean, it's not that I didn't trust that you would keep your promise, but the odds were so against you!"

"Shh, it's okay," I whisper to her. "I'm here."

She looks up at me, love in her eyes. They look so much greener, now, because they're red from exhaustion and tears. But I've never seen her more beautiful, or happier-happier to see that I've made it back to her.

"I love you, Jack." My heart swells at her words…it reminds me of our interaction while she was going down in the lifeboat. Which reminds me of Cal…he'll be looking for Rose sooner or later. But the time to worry about that isn't now…

"I love you, too, Rose." She smiles even more radiantly, and stretches up to kiss me on the lips. Thinking of this is what got me through the night...Rose's lips move in sync with mine, and when we break apart, she whispers my name.

"Jack…" I am suddenly reminded that we are in a very public place, and that we have to avoid Cal, Lovejoy, and Ruth at any cost. I take her warm little hand in mine.

"We have to hide, Rose. Cal and the others will be looking for you!"

"Right," she says, and I can see her more serious self slip into place. We need to get you a blanket, so you can hide a bit better…" She absent-mindedly slips her free hand into her pocket. A puzzled look crosses her face, followed by a dawning realization.

I have no idea what's going on. I look over my shoulder, expecting to see Cal or Ruth coming at us. But nope, the only people I see are complete strangers. "What is it?" I cup her face in my hand when she doesn't reply, and repeat my question. "What is it? What's wrong, Rose?"

"Nothing's…wrong, per say," she answers slowly. "It's more something that's…unexpected? Right, maybe?" She's making absolutely no sense…I resist the urge to ask further questions and instead try to be patient and wait for her to reply.

Whatever's shocked her, she finally snaps out of it, blinking and coming back to me. "It's what's in this pocket, Jack. I have the Heart of the Ocean."


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: Over 2,000 words! That's the longest chapter yet by a few hundred words. So this chapter is a bit fluffy at parts, but I felt like I had to include that to show how Rose feels about Jack, and vice-versa. I also happen to love writing fluff…And, of course, thanks again to my awesome reviewers-WickedForGood13, mayakaur, and DawsonGurl this time around. You guys rock! A dozen thank –yous for taking the time to review! And now, here is Chapter Seven…**

Chapter Seven:

Bread and Butter (Rose)

JACK STARES BACK at me, mouth agape in shock. He doesn't understand, like I do, the complete value of this diamond. "Fifty-six carats, to be exact," Cal had told me that night in my bedroom. I'd known that he was expecting some passionate response out of me, perhaps my yielding to his desire, but my heart just wasn't into it. I'd already been falling for Jack…

"Rose," Jack whispers. "Do you know what this means?" His voice is hoarser than I am used to hearing; the surprise again, I suppose.

"It means we're rich." I finger the diamond, still safely tucked in my pocket. I feel thick stacks of paper, too…money. "There's tons of money in here, too."

Jack wraps his arms around me, pulls me close to his chest. I hear his heart pounding, a constant, reassuring sound that he is, in fact, with me, and that he did survive the sinking. I still can't believe it…maybe a dozen people were pulled from the water, and he was one of them! He wasn't lying to me when he said he was a survivor…when he promised that he would make it. I'm eternally grateful for that.

"No…" he breathes, and I'm not sure what he's referring to at first. How would he know if there was a lot of money in the pockets or not? "It means Cal's going to be searching all over for us to get that necklace back. He'll figure out you have it…it's only a matter of time."

A quiet horror sweeps over me, not unlike the one I felt when I realized that Cal was ensuring that Jack would die trapped on the _Titanic_. "And if Cal finds the diamond, he finds me…" So much for trying to avoid him. If Cal finds me, he's not going to let me go. I'll be trapped with him forever.

"Then what we've gotta do is avoid him at all costs." Jack's trying to be optimistic, but it's only serving to remind me of when he was trying to get me on a lifeboat. Needless to say, this isn't a memory I want to relive at the moment.

"So where do we go?" I whisper, casting anxious eyes about the deck. Cal could be lurking anywhere…where is the best place to avoid him?

"C'mon," he says, and he takes my hand. I follow without question; one thing that I've learned is to trust Jack implicitly. Trust him to pull me back over the _Titanic;_ trust him to lead me through the wildly dancing crowd; trust him to draw me with the Heart of the Ocean; trust him with something I've never trusted anyone with before…an unfamiliar, but pleasant, warmth rises up in my belly at this thought, and suddenly the only thing I am aware of is Jack's calloused, warm, hand in mine, his thumb rubbing soothing circles against the back of my hand, and I blush at the memories that flood up within.

Jack has led me to a quiet corner, away from any other people. I'm surprised, with the hundreds of survivors milling about, plus the regular passengers and crew of the _Carpathia,_ that there is a quiet corner on the deck to be found. But there is, and Jack of all people would be able to find it.

"We'll be safe here, Rose," he tells me, pulling me against his chest in another warm embrace. A thought dawns on me, as I'm wrapped in his arms…Jack can't believe that he's made it, either. For all of his calm assurance and talk, he's been just as overwhelmed, just as ecstatic, as I am…

I pull my head off of his chest. He was looking straight ahead, but now his beautiful eyes meet mine, and there's so much love and tenderness in them that it makes me want to cry. What did I do to deserve this loving, amazing, man? Instead, I just smile up at him, knowing what he'll do next.

He ducks his head a bit and presses his lips to mine. Unlike our kiss just a few minutes ago, this is deeper, more passionate. It's the kind of kiss that tells me that we're going to make it, despite the odds, and that we're going to live happily ever after, just like in the fairy tales I was so fond of as a young girl. Jack parts my lips with his tongue, and all I can taste is his sweetness. I feel his mouth curl up into a smile and he breaks the kiss. "There's a time and place for that, but not now," he says with a grin, and I have to agree, despite wanting the moment to never end.

"Those aren't your clothes." Perhaps it's foolish of me not to have noticed before, but Jack is wearing a jacket that is slightly too big for him, a dark blue shirt, and black pants. He was wearing a white shirt before…

Much to my surprise, he laughs. "They're not gonna keep me in wet clothes after pulling me from the ocean, Rose. These are some clothes donated by passengers on the _Carpathia._" Now I know why he laughed; it does seem rather obvious, now that I know.

"Oh," I say. "Right." Jack sits down and helps me to follow; I lean my head on his shoulder and feel my eyelids grow heavy.

"You tired, Rose?" His voice is gentle.

"Yes," I say, unable to repress a yawn. Sitting in a lifeboat all night, holding a young girl and praying for your beloved is hardly conducive to a good night's sleep, after all.

He takes my hand in his, again rubbing the soothing circles into the back of it. His holding my hand reminds me of when we were on the bow of the ship, flying into the sunset…was that only yesterday? It feels like years ago, now…and it's impossible to believe that that opulent ship is now at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean…

"You can rest," Jack tells me, and I close my eyes. It's still chilly out, probably from the proximity of the icebergs, but not so cold that I am too uncomfortable. But then, I am with Jack, and I could be anywhere in the world with him at my side and be comfortable…

I'M NOT SURE exactly how much time has passed when I wake up. Enough time for me to start to feel the chill, and to be hungry. When was the last time I ate…? I think back, and I realize it had to be at lunch, right before I realized I wanted to be at Jack. But my stomach was in knots, so I could barely eat a thing.

I look over at Jack and am not surprised to see that he is asleep. He spent all night on…in…well, I'm not exactly sure how he made it out of the water. I suppose I'll simply have to ask him; for now, it is enough that he _did_ make it out of the water.

It is with this thought that I realize I've never seen Jack asleep before. Granted, I have only known him for a few days, but…I can't stop myself from looking at the way his lips are slightly parted, the way his eyelashes curve gently across his face…my stomach grumbles and reminds me that there is an urge that is slightly more urgent than the "be grateful Jack is alive" one. But still, a part of me feels excited, imagining waking up to his face every morning for the rest of our lives.

I slip my fingers out from between his and stand up, surprised at the stiffness of my muscles. Apparently, I was asleep for longer than I thought. I was trying my hardest not to wake him up, but Jack's eyelashes flutter, and he blinks up sleepily at me.

"Hello, love." He's never called me that before, but I think I like it…again, with the besotted thoughts! I blink to try and disengage this particular thought train.

"I tried not to wake you, but I'm hungry," I say to him.

"Did you not get anything to eat when you boarded the ship?" I think back, remember being handed a cup of tea and a blanket…

"I had some tea, but no food."

"No wonder you're hungry," he replies, getting to his feet. "C'mon, let's go find you something to eat!" I follow him away from our private little corner and back to the masses of people. It's quiet, now. Reminds me of sitting in the lifeboat this morning, listening to the people in the water freeze and being unable to do anything to save them…

"Why are you standing there, Rose? Everything okay?" Jack's voice brings me back to the present. I'm standing there like an idiot, gathering glances from more than a few curious passengers. Not exactly what one should be doing when she is trying to avoid her jealous ex-fiancée.

"I'm fine," I say in answer to his question, and continue to follow him over to a steward. It must be lunchtime; the steward is handing out bread and butter. Jack takes some and hands it to me, thanking the steward, and then accepts some for himself. We make our way back to our little corner, anxious, ever-anxious, to avoid running into Cal or my mother. I look down at the bread in wonder. I'm not used to seeing such a simple meal…but I rather like it…

"Not exactly what you're used to, huh?" Jack asks. I see a bit of anxiety in his eyes, and realize that he's worried that I'm going to act like a spoiled little rich girl at this "meager" meal. We have the diamond, and we have some money, thanks to Cal, but he knows it is not going to be enough to afford the kind of lifestyle I'm used to. He must be worried that I'll have a hard time adjusting. It would be rather fun to pretend to be upset over the meal, but I decide to set his mind at ease.

I take a big bite out of the bread. It may seem ridiculous, after being used to the best food that money can afford, but I would swear that this is the best thing I have ever eaten. I swallow, smile at him, and say, "No, I'm not used to actually enjoying my food!"

He laughs, a wonderful sound to my ears, and starts to eat his own bread. We devour our food in quick, ravenous bites, not at all like the forced daintiness I am used to exhibiting. Again, it is a marvelous feeling not to feel so trapped, to be able to enjoy my food, and my time. I laugh, just for the sheer joy of it. Jack looks over, a smile playing about his lips, and grabs my face between his hands. "What's so funny, huh?" he asks, mock-seriously, but there's a glint of humor in his eyes.

"I don't know!" I can't stop laughing, and his lips twitch, threatening to break out into a full-fledged grin. Suddenly, he presses his lips against my own, moving them urgently. Any semblance of humor is gone, having been replaced by this desire…my lips are fused to his, my hands tangled in his golden hair. His hands are on my waist, now, moving, searching…

Finally, we can't take it anymore, and we break apart, panting. He's smiling now, his gaze holding mine until I'm lost in the infinite blue. He kisses me again, and colors flash before my eyes, reminding me of the fireworks displays I'd seen in my childhood, when Father was alive…

"Hello, Rose," a quiet voice says. Jack and I whirl around, and he instantly places himself in front of me, a human shield against this unwelcome threat.

"What do you want?" Jack addresses our intruder brazenly, but his hand seeks mine, and I know that he's just as nervous, just as terrified, as I am.


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: Thanks to WickedForGood13, DawsonGurl, and AddyD90 for reviews! I wrote this chapter as soon as I could for you guys…hope you like it!**

Chapter Eight:

Bartering (Jack)

I DON'T UNDERSTAND.

It's impossible for me to comprehend right now, exactly how this person found us.

I was careful. God knows, I was careful. Rose was, too. She still has that blanket over her head, covering her beautiful red curls, so as not to draw attention to herself.

Perhaps I should have covered myself, too? I suppose they've seen me enough over the past few days to be able to pick me out from a crowd…stupid, Jack, absolutely stupid.

But there's no time to berate myself for it now. Now, I have to protect Rose. I place myself in front of her, try to sound brazen, unafraid. But I take Rose's hand in mine, seeking it for comfort. I can feel her shaking behind me. How can we go from being so happy to so terrified in only a few seconds?

The answer is quite simple:

Ruth.

"What do I want?" She's responding to my question, her jewel-like eyes flashing…in anger? "I want my daughter."

"Well, I'm not coming with you." Rose, still quivering behind me, somehow manages to make her voice firm, unshakable. "I'm staying with Jack."

"Oh, yes, Jack." The venom in Ruth's voice is almost tangible when she says my name. "I have to admit that I am rather disappointed to see that you survived the sinking. You've made it that much harder for Rose to go back to Cal."

Rose trembles even more violently at his name, but there is steel in her voices as she says, "Mother, I am rather disappointed that you seem not to understand me. I am not going back to Cal. I am staying with Jack."

"Don't you understand?" Ruth finally loses her icy cool. "The money is gone, Rose, gone! Just because you're content to stay with this…this…_boy_, and be a penniless beggar for the rest of your life, does not mean that I am! You are going to marry Cal and ensure the success of this family!"

"How can you put this on me?" Rose screams back. "I'll go straight to Cal and tell him that the money's gone. Do you think he'll want to marry me then, Mother?" Her voice breaks; she's crying. I drop her hand, spin her around, and pull her into my arms, so that she's no longer facing her mother. Stroking her hair, I kiss the top of her head, letting her know that I am here for her, now and forever. I know that these tears are more of anger than of sadness, just as I know that she needs to get them out to feel better.

Ruth's voice goes dangerously quiet and icy, whether in response to Rose's words, or my actions, or a combination of the two. "Who do you think he is going to believe…the well-respected mother, or the flighty, irresponsible daughter?" Rose is crying too hard to reply, but I'm sure we all know the answer to this one.

I hadn't realized that Rose's money was gone. Not that this makes any difference to me-we were content to imagine our lives together before we discovered that Rose had the diamond, and are after-

Wait…the diamond…I whisper in her ear, "Rose, the only reason Ruth wants you to marry Cal is for money, right?"

"Essentially, yes," she sniffles, burying her face in my shoulder.

"Well, what if we tell her we have something that will more than provide for her for the rest of her life-if she keeps quiet?"

"Hasn't anyone ever told you that it is rude to whisper?" Ruth asks loudly, while her daughter looks up at me with wide eyes.

"You mean-"

"Yes." There is no hesitation in my voice; Rose wants to break away from the kind of lifestyle that the diamond would have offered, and I've never wanted to be a part of that way of life anyway.

"Mother, I have a proposition for you," Rose says, pulling out of my embrace and slipping her hand back into mine.

"A proposition? What is there to propose about? You are coming back with me, marrying Cal, and that is final," Ruth snorts derisively. Not exactly the kind of behavior I would expect from a first class lady…but then, Rose and I did bond spitting over the side of a ship…

"What if I told you that you could live comfortably for the rest of your life, without my having to marry Cal?"

"That's preposterous," Ruth sputters, but there's a gleam of interest in her eyes. _Good girl, Rose,_ I think, _keep going._ I wanted to do this myself; after all, it was my plan, but if Rose is content to take center-stage, then I am all for it. First class has stamped a lot of "I can do it" attitude out of Rose, and I'm glad to see her get some of it back again.

"No, it's not," Rose says coolly, and whips the diamond out of her pocket. "I present to you, Mother, the Heart of the Ocean. Fifty-six carats, a diamond, worn by Louis XVI." Ruth's eyes glimmer greedily as she eyes the diamond, and I have to put on a poker face to keep from smiling. This is looking good for us…

"But…how did you get it?" Ruth has seen the diamond before; after all, she was in the room when the Master at Arms pulled it from my pocket, after Lovejoy had planted it there. As if reminded of this, Ruth eyes me suspiciously

"Jack didn't steal it, if that's what you're asking." Ruth looks down at the deck, chagrined, and again I have to fight the urge to smile. Rose can be so…feisty, when she's angry. This thought stirs up some feelings within me…feelings that I try to quench quickly, as this is definitely not the time or the place for them. "It was in this jacket that Cal put on me," Rose goes on. "I'll give it to you…in exchange for your word to leave Jack and me alone, and not to tell Cal that any of this ever happened."

This is a dangerous bargain; what's stopping Ruth from going off and telling Cal that Rose is here, and potentially being rewarded beyond even the diamond? But I see the greed flash again in Ruth's eyes, and realize what Rose has known all along: Ruth wants to be able to fend for herself, and wants to have the appearances of having everything she's ever wanted, even if she hasn't.

"Oh, and here…" Rose digs around in her pocket again, coming up with a small portion of the cash that I'm sure Cal stuffed in there. "I'll throw in…" She quickly counts the money. "…three hundred dollars, to sweeten the deal."

Three hundred bucks? I've never had that much money in my life…Rose probably has never had so _little_ in her life, and yet here she is, willing to throw it all away…for me.

Ruth purses her lips, debating, I'm sure, between what Cal would give her, and what Rose is offering. "Why do you want to be with Jack more than Cal?" she asks unexpectedly. "He can't offer you anything, and Cal can offer you the world."

"Because Cal is an evil, pompous, lying, conniving, _idiot!_" Rose explodes out. "He doesn't want to marry me because he loves me; he wants to marry me because he thinks I can make him even wealthier and he likes the way I look!"

"That's the way men are," Ruth points out. "What, and you want to marry for "love?"" You can hear the quotation marks in her sentence, the derisive tone in which she speaks of marriage for love. And it hits me-part of the reason that Ruth can't understand Rose's relationship with me is that she has never felt one like it. She probably married for money, just like she was trying to force her daughter into doing. Pity, unexpected but there, wells up within me at this thought-imagine never knowing the kind of love that Rose and I share…

Rose's thoughts seem to be traveling along the same line. She smiles up at me, her eyes saying more than her words ever could, and then turns back to her mother. "Yes, I do," she says simply. "I love Jack, and he loves me, and he has given of himself so many times in the few days I've known him. He would do anything for me, and I would do anything for him, and I want nothing more than to spend the rest of my life with him." My beautiful little Rose…she raises the hand with the diamond in it, glittering in the light, and looks at her mother. I can't see the look in her eyes, but something almost like fear passes through Ruth's, followed quickly by the same arrogant look she's always worn while in my presence. "The choice is yours, Mother…I'm not staying with Cal, no matter what you choose. I'll find my way to Jack, even if it takes years. I guess the choice is between helping your daughter to be happy for once in her life, or continuing to make her miserable by never allowing her to make her own choices."

Tears fill Ruth's eyes then. "Were you really miserable, Rose? Even with everything you ever could want, looks that most girls only _dream_ of having?" Rose looks back at me; I can tell she's debating how much she should tell her mother. I shrug; it's completely up to her.

"Mother? You know how I told everyone that Jack saved me from falling into the ocean when I was looking at the propellers?" Her voice is quiet now, gentle; she doesn't want to hurt her mother with her words, but rather to make her understand how unhappy she was in her former life.

"Yes?" Ruth clearly can't understand what this has to do with anything, but she is willing to play along. It's the first bit of compassion I have seen from her, and I find myself disliking her a bit less for it.

"Well, I wasn't looking over the propellers." Confusion flashes over Ruth's face. "Jack talked me out of killing myself." Tears are back in Ruth's eyes; she clasps her hands to her face, shaking her head "no" disbelievingly, and the tears start to stream down her face. "I just couldn't take it anymore," Rose goes on, her voice dull as she describes how she felt. "Everything was so trivial, so meaningless, and I had to marry Cal…every aspect of my life was dictated for me. I didn't get to wear the clothes I wanted to wear; I couldn't even order my own _lunch!_" She looks back at me, love in her eyes. "Then Jack talked me out of it. He saw me like nobody else ever bothered to. And, just when he was pulling me back over the rail, I slipped on the beading on my dress. I almost fell into the water…and right then, I was so terrified. I didn't want to die! And if I did, it would be my own stupid fault! Luckily, Jack pulled me over. He wouldn't let go. He saved me."

Ruth is shaking now, her face still cradled in her hands. It takes me a few seconds to realize that she's crying. Rose walks over, tentatively, and wraps her arms around her mother. They cry together for a few minutes, leaving me to wonder what I should do. I finally just turned by back and pretended to admire the view.

"You don't have to give me that necklace to stay with Jack, Rose," Ruth says, when she's finally managed to calm down. "You can stay with him. Cal doesn't need to know. There are rumors floating about that some women died in the lifeboats; I'll let him assume that you were one of them."

"Oh, no, Mother, take it; I insist!" Rose presses the diamond into her mother's hands. "I don't want to keep it." Her voice is lower now, and I know she's thinking of how just having the diamond would remind her of Cal every day.

"All right," Ruth says, and she embraces her daughter once more. She carefully pockets the diamond, hiding it so that Cal won't find it. Then she looks over at me, and she has a tentative smile on her face. But it's the first kind look she's given me since we've met. "Take care of my daughter, Jack."

"Don't worry, ma'am, I will," I say, smiling.


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: Sorry it took so long to update! School started up again, and I am packing to go to Florida on Friday…super excited for that! Anyway, I will do my best to update at least one more time before then, and then it will probably be Tuesday before I get to update again. This chapter is a little shorter than the last couple, but I felt bad for making you wait, so I made sure I got this up as it is! As always, thanks to my reviewers: WickedForGood13, FallingStar95, DawsonGurl, and LoveShouldDie, as to any and all who have favorited or subscribed to this story-I checked my e-mail for the first time in forever the other day and was surprised with the number of you who had! You're awesome! So, without further ado, I present Chapter Nine…**

Chapter Nine:

New York Bound (Rose)

_Three Days Later…_

"DO YOU SEE it, Jack?" We're standing in a cold rain, but with Jack's arm around me I'm as warm as could be. My hair is plastered to my face, the usually crimson curls dulled to an old rusty shade; I must look like a half-drowned rat, but I don't care. I look up, blinking the sting of rain from my eyes, and admire the view.

"No, Rose, I don't see it." Jack's voice is gentle, teasing, but the affection in it is audible. Affection for _me…_I imagine standing here alone, without Jack, mourning him…I shiver at the thought and try to banish it from my mind.

"You cold?" He chafes his hands against my body, trying to create some heat from the friction.

"Not really," I reply, not taking my eyes off of the sight. It has been so long since I've been home, to America…I can't remember the last time that I saw the Statue of Liberty. The same must be true for Jack; five years, maybe, for him?

I snuggle into his side, and we stand in the rain and watch the symbol of our freedom welcome us to our new lives.

WHEN THE _CARPATHIA_ docks, there is absolute pandemonium. The few hundred survivors trickle off into the waiting crowd. There are cries of joy as some families are reunited, but the main sound to be heard is the cries of the reporters.

"Did the Astors survive?"

"What happened to the Captain?"

"Is it true about Major Butt?"

Jack squeezes my hand as we weave our way through the crowd, avoiding the reporters as much as possible. Quiet at first, but louder and louder are the sounds of crying, of people finding that their loved ones have not survived. The sound is absolutely heart-wrenching as I think about the people who will never walk upon the shoreline again…Mr. Andrews, who never had anything but goodness in his heart; Mr. Astor, who although was married to a girl much younger than he (and soon to be a father by her, too, which was whispered among the upper-class), reportedly went down like a gentleman…but it is not only the loss of the first class passengers that is so upsetting; what about the friends that I made with Jack? Little Cora, her dark curls tumbling down her back, a huge smile on her face as she danced with Jack; Tommy, who thought he was so tough, but was utterly shocked by my ballet move; Fabrizio, who told me where to find Jack when I'd come to my senses and realized that we belonged together…I don't recall seeing any of them on the _Carpathia…_

"Where are we going, Jack?" For the first time, I'm not being told exactly how to behave, where to go, while in a large city…it's rather strange, but I know that I can get used to the feeling.

"They want all the third class passengers to report to the hospital for a check-up," he tells me, expertly steering me through the crowds.

"And then?" He looks back at me, a smile playing about his lips.

"And then, we can do whatever you want to do."

WE'RE DISMISSED QUICKLY from the hospital, neither of us too much worse for the wear. It's a miracle that Jack doesn't have frostbite somewhere, after being in the water for who knows how long. I still don't know exactly what happened…

"How were you able to survive, Jack?" I finally decide to ask, as we search for a decent, yet affordable, hotel.

"I climbed to the stern of the ship, rode it down, swam to a piece of wreckage, and climbed on." His voice is shorter, more abrupt, than usual, and I know that it's not because he didn't want to tell me, but because he doesn't enjoy reliving those memories. As horrific as it was to hear what happened, it must have been a hundred, a thousand, times worse to actually see it, to live it…

I take his hand in mine and squeeze it tightly, trying to comfort him through just that simple action. He squeezes back and smiles, but the smile doesn't quite reach his eyes. "How does this place look?" We're stopped at a nice-enough looking place, albeit a little small, with a sign that says "Welcome, Titanic Survivors."

"Why are they welcoming survivors?" Is it full of reporters, eager to make a quick buck by pressuring survivors to tell what happened?

"Because most people don't have pockets full of money belonging to their ex-fiancées," Jack notes humorously. "Places like this are willing to let survivors stay for less, or even for free, since most of us don't have a place to go." I grin and look down; part of me feels bad for keeping this money, when it obviously doesn't belong to me; but with what Cal put me through, and Jack through, I remind myself that he practically _owes_ us this money. He almost cost Jack his life, several times…and he would have beaten me, trapped me, until I died either physically or emotionally…

"You wanna go in?" Jack's voice stirs me out of my thoughts, and I nod my head. We make our way to the front desk, where a kindly-looking woman is seated.

"How may I help you?" she asks, and I look to Jack to let him know that I'd rather that he did the talking.

"We're _Titanic_ survivors," he says simply, and the woman claps her hands to her face and stands up.

"Oh, you poor things!" she exclaims. "C'mon, I'll get you a nice double room." She leads us up a set of stairs, while I look and Jack and mouth, "Double?"

She opens a door at the end of the hall. The room is quite large; not as large as my room on the _Titanic,_ but still pretty big. There are two large beds, piled with colorful quilts, and a dresser is in the middle.

"My name is Edith; please don't hesitate to let me know if there is anything I can offer you!" She smiles and closes the door, locking it behind her.

Jack looks at me, and I stare right back at him. For the first time since I rescued him from the Master at Arm's office, we're alone together. The corner on the _Carpathia_ doesn't really count; as my mother so graciously pointed out to us, anybody could have walked in. The tension in the room is almost tangible; he has pinned me with his gaze, and I can't look away from that glorious blue.

"Double beds?" I finally get out, with a rather lop-sided grin. He laughs once, nervously. And I'm not sure who made the first move, but suddenly we are in each other's arms, our lips fused together, our hands roaming over each other's bodies.

Jack rips off Cal's coat and throws it on the floor with a low growl; part of me marvels at this aggression, remembering the careful tenderness that he treated me with in the backseat of the car. But most of me finds his need that much more appealing; I slip his coat off in return and wrap my legs around his waist.

He emits a low laugh at this, but carries me back to the nearest bed. It may take a few seconds, or a few hours, but next thing I know, our clothes are off and we're tangled in the sheets.

"You sure you wanna do this?" I can feel Jack's need pressed against me, hear the restraint in his voice and his heavy breathing as he practically pants. Ever the gentleman, he's going to check first…the thought makes me surer than ever.

"Take me to the stars, Jack," I whisper, pressing my lips to his once more.

And that's where we go.

THE NEXT MORNING, I'm awoken by a gentle knocking at the door. I lift my head sleepily; I'm not exactly happy about doing this, as it was on Jack's chest previously, but I'll do what I have to do. He's still asleep, his mouth open slightly, his breathing even. Trying to ignore how this makes me feel, I clear my throat. "Yes?" I call out, not exactly sure where I am…it all comes back to me in a few seconds, when I hear Edith's voice.

"Breakfast will be ready in half an hour," she tells me. I hear her footsteps trail off down the hallway.

I lay back down on Jack, loving the way his arms wrap around me, securing me even as he sleeps. I'm still exhausted; this is the first sleep that I've had in a real bed since the night before the sinking, and we got hear extremely late anyway. Of course, our activities early this morning did nothing to help the situation…

Jack stirs and sleepily presses his lips to my hair. "What was that?" he murmurs. The sound of his voice, though creaky from sleep, remains the most beautiful thing I've ever heard.

"Edith. Breakfast will be ready in half an hour."

"Mmm…" he breathes, stretching muscular arms above us before letting them rest on me. "Suppose that means we have to put our clothes back on, doesn't it?"

"Eventually," I agree, kissing his neck, trailing up toward his lips. "But we still have half an hour…" With that, my lips meet his, and conversation ceases for the time being.


End file.
